School belonging: The importance of student and teacher relationships

Abstract

School belonging is associated with a range of positive educational and developmental outcomes, including psychosocial health and wellbeing, prosocial behaviour and academic achievement, and transition into adulthood. However, an increasing number of students worldwide report not feeling a sense of belonging to their school. There is growing research evidence that strong student-teacher relationships can promote school belonging, however creating these relationships within highly complex educational systems can be challenging. Further, only a few interventions focusing specifically on belonging that are available in schools have been found to be effective. This chapter highlights the importa..